A Summit County judge has scheduled a hearing for Friday afternoon to decide if former Akron Police Capt. Douglas Prade will go back to prison. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze has the next step now that the Ohio Supreme Court refused today to hear Prade’s case.

Douglas Prade was imprisoned for 15 years, convicted of murdering his estranged wife in the parking lot of her medical practice. He continued to fight that conviction, noting that DNA testing of a bite mark on her lab coat did not match his.

Now-retired Summit County Judge Judy Hunter overturned his conviction and released him last year. As a fallback, she also said Prade deserves a new trial if he doesn’t remain free outright.

An appeals’ panel ruled the DNA evidence proved nothing, and he should go back to prison. He appealed that to the Ohio Supreme Court, which turned him down today.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh says in a statement that Prade “terrorized” Margo Prade and belongs in prison.

But neither of the higher courts has yet ruled on whether he should get a new trial. Friday’s hearing will determine if Prade can remain free on bond or must return to prison until the appeals judges figure that out.